In Memory of a Bond
by Nellie87
Summary: PostKH2, spoilers. Not everyone who deserved to made it home, and Sora wonders if he did the right thing.


**In Memory of a Bond**

The sun was setting over Destiny Island, crimson and gold reflecting off the ocean and turning it into a sea of brilliant fire. It was appropriate, Sora thought as he leaned back against the familiar trunk of their papou tree, turning over the small object in his hands.

"You brooding again? That's my job, you know."

Sora glanced up at Riku as he settled into his usual spot on top of the curved trunk. Then he looked down at the keychain in his hand once more. "Just a little." He smiled. "Wouldn't want to get in your broody way or anything."

The taller teenager leaned down, punching his friend in the shoulder just hard enough to hurt, and laughed when the brunette rubbed his arm and glared. "What you got there, anyway?"

Sora forgot the negligible pain in his arm as soon as Riku asked the question, his thoughts returning to the keychain. He held it up slowly, the small chakram swinging gently. "I wondered, you know. Why Axel did that for us."

He fell silent for a moment, but Riku didn't say anything, instead watching the play of emotions over the younger Key Bearer's face. It was clear to him that there was something Sora needed to say, to vent, so he let him collect his thoughts.

"But… when I thought about it, I already knew. I _am_ Roxas… and Roxas is me." Sora frowned, watching the sharp glare of the dying sun glint off the keychain. "I guess I sort of remember." At least he thought he did. The melancholy he felt when the three of them went to the pier for ice-cream didn't belong to him, and neither did the memories of hunting Heartless through Twilight Town. Definitely not the tangle of emotions he felt whenever he thought about what had happened in the void… he hadn't known the red-haired Nobody long enough to warrant such an intense feeling of pain. Which meant…

He lowered the chain, looking back up at Riku. "They were important to each other, just like you and Kairi are to me. And… I feel like I should have done something. I mean, if I knew I'd never be able to see you guys again, I know how I'd feel. I _did_ feel it, for a while. I thought I'd never find you both again."

He paused for breath, turning to look out over the ocean where the brilliance of the sun had already faded, almost below the horizon. A few final rays glittered on the water. "I did that to them," he said softly. "I took them away from each other. I did the same thing I fought Maleficent and Ansem and all those others for doing to us."

Riku heard the slight break in his friend's voice, and frowned. He slid down from the branch, reaching out to ruffle Sora's hair as he stood next to him. "You couldn't have done anything, Sora. And don't even go there. You _know_ you're nothing like them." He dropped his hand, arm settling over the younger boy's shoulders instead. "If you could have done anything, you would have. Besides, Axel was never an idiot. He did it because he understood something just as well as you do; that a true, faithful friend is worth fighting for, worth _dying_ for."

Sora finally looked up again when Riku closed his hand around his, the keychain digging into his palm from the pressure of the other boy's fingers. Green eyes looked down at him; eyes that had seen the deepest darkness a heart could carry. If Riku brooded a little, it was because he had more right to than Sora ever would.

"You know what you have to do?"

Sora shook his head, feeling the awkward shape of the tiny chakram in his hand as Riku tightened his grip.

"You gotta keep being you. Don't start letting dark thoughts like that into your heart." Riku grinned. "Keep being a happy dork, and you'll do the both of them justice."

A small smile broke Sora's frown at Riku's words, but he didn't even move to retaliate at being called a dork. "You think?"

"I know," the silver-haired boy replied, stretching his arms over his head.  
"C'mon, we don't want to keep Kairi waiting. We already have a few lifetimes' worth of making up to do for all the waiting she's done already."

Sora laughed. "Yeah." Then he tilted his head slightly. "Race ya?"

The words were barely out of his mouth before Riku took off, vaulting back over the trunk of the papou tree and heading for the bridge at a sprint.

"Cheater!" He yelled, following his friend.

Twilight had settled over the beach, the sun out of reach. Kairi waved from the dock, laughter on her face as he caught the back of Riku's belt and tripped him down into the sand a moment before being pulled over himself, an amused tangle of adolescent limbs.

_Happy dork?_ he thought, as he shoved Riku away with a laugh and tried to scramble up before he could be tripped down again. _I can do that._


End file.
